The More You Love Someone
by JKing88
Summary: 5 n 1 fic. Five men Will encountered after Paul, altruistically and stupidly, left him and the only one that mattered. Featuring various Will-centered pairings but ultimately Horita endgame.
1. Chapter 1

Every few months or so, I emerge out of my cave and crank one of these babies out.

After hearing CS was leaving the show I thought of various ways the situation could play out and realized almost all roads lead to WilSon. Which, if you couldn't tell over the years from my writing, is not my cup of tea.

It became my civic duty to give Will a few different options.

 **Warnings** for the fic as a whole: dubcon like whoa. Individual chapters will be properly labeled with a note at the bottom explaining the warning so no one gets triggered.

Also, warning for me being a flake. Not even gonna lie, the chances of me posting this fic and disappearing into the unknown are high. So, ya know, prepare for that.

Important to note, if a character in the story isn't on the show anymore or if things conflict with a current storyline, handwave that away.

*Title from the _Avenue Q_ song entitled "The More You Ruv Someone"

* * *

 **The More You Love Someone…**

 **The More You Want To Kill Them**

*TW: dubcon. See A/N at the bottom of the page for details*

 **Prologue**

In a way, Will didn't blame Paul. Paul wanted to protect himself. He didn't want to lose Will on any terms but his own.

On the other hand, though, Will blamed Paul entirely. Who was he to make decisions for Will? Who was he to decide who Will could or couldn't date? Who was he to dismiss Will's choice? To not trust Will knew his own mind?

Stupid, insecure idiot.

Will thought they spent the past several months building something strong, something sturdy. Something meant to last.

Will never experienced trust and understanding like they had. Or so he thought.

Maybe their relationship focused on Will too much. Maybe Will focused on Will too much. Because he thought Paul understood how he felt. Thought Paul knew why Will wanted his memories back in the first place. It wasn't about understanding his past love. Well, it was. It was about appreciating his past, understanding everything he went through. Understanding himself as a whole person. So he could love Paul with everything he had, past and present.

Will thought Paul appreciated that. He thought he explained it well enough. Thought Paul knew how much Will adored him. That no memories of a failed marriage were going to change anything.

Clearly, Will didn't know anything.

He didn't pay enough attention to Paul's needs and insecurities. If he had, neither would be in this ridiculous situation.

His kind, protective, boyfriend wouldn't rush halfway across the globe on some inane undercover mission. He wouldn't leave with lingering kisses and useless platitudes. Wouldn't ramble on about Will finding the man he truly wants. He wouldn't be so selfless and idiotic. Will wouldn't be in Salem, alone. Memories inching their way into his consciousness, ex-husband hounding his every step.

Convinced Will's memories of Sonny were stronger than what they built together, Paul left. And here Will was, confused, hurt, and mad as hell.

If Paul wanted Will to explore his options, explore he would do.

* * *

 **#1**

After the serum, Will's memories came back in a slow, nonsensical order. He couldn't wade through the mess of timelines, names, and half-understood events alone. Without Paul there to steady him, Will turned to Marlena and Lucas the most. With their help, he started pasting together his past.

Everything he remembered, Will wrote down in the journal Sami gave him. After talking with Grandma or Dad, he would write an estimate of the date the memory occurred. Sometimes he even scoured old newspaper clippings to help get an approximate date. Anything to help understand the jumble of ill-fitting moments he couldn't decipher.

Everything would have gone easier if his kind and patient boyfriend were around to help. Or, at least, Paul's presence would soothe, comfort, and distract Will.

But, as Paul was a stupid idiot, Will was alone.

He often wondered if taking the serum was the right choice. What did the past matter if Will had a bright future ahead of him? Or, at least, he did.

Paul leaving, his mess of memories, and constant pounding behind his eyes wouldn't hurt so badly if not for Sonny.

The first time Will saw Sonny in Tennessee, he felt nothing. Even with the dark lighting and Sonny flickering to life at the sight of him, nothing. No niggling in the back of his mind, no curiosity, nothing.

Nothing but a hint of annoyance and an ache in his heels from standing on his feet all day. Those initial feelings never went away either.

Even after arriving in Salem, Will didn't feel any indication Sonny was once important to him. Not with the compulsion that drew him to Paul. In the beginning, Will felt nothing towards Sonny one way or the other. A hint of regret or pity at not being what Sonny wanted but not much else. Over time, annoyance won over. With the constant barging in on his time, the self-entitled way Sonny acted. The single-mindedness that the only reason Will wanted his memories were for Sonny. As if anything other than Sony wasn't an option.

Will didn't believe anything Sonny ever told him about their former relationship. And, as his memories took shape, Will realized he was right.

Almost everything Sonny said was a lie. Or a truth so warped and convoluted it no longer resembled the truth.

Will didn't remember everything yet but he remembered enough. He remembered months of arguing and hurt and broken promises. He remembered anxieties and manipulations and endless lists of his every fucking flaw. He remembered cheating and lying. Thinking deep down, he never, ever felt anything like those few times with Paul.

Most of all, Will remembered how insecure he felt the entirety of his relationship with Sonny. Never feeling worthy. Never feeling like an equal. Having to fight through parental disapproval over and over and over.

No, Will refused to go back to ever feeling that way over a man again.

That's not to say Will didn't feel anything for Sonny. He did marry the man, after all. There was an attraction between them. It wasn't as magnetic as what Will felt for Paul but it was undeniable. Sonny was nice enough when he wasn't pressuring Will. He was smart and competent enough when he wasn't playing at being a tough guy or sleeping with people he shouldn't.

But, memories or no memories, Will couldn't see them together. Not in the way Sonny or even Paul expected.

The irony wasn't lost on Will either. After everything, after all the judging and the ostracizing, Sonny and Paul were fighting over Will.

Or, they were before Paul threw in the towel. Before he ran as far away as he could to not witness whatever he feared between Will and Sonny. Having gone through something similar himself, Will understood. He didn't like it and thought Paul was a big giant moron. But he got it.

Which is how he knew something like tonight would have never happened if Paul were still in town. Will would be sitting in his bed right now, Paul's strong arms wrapped around him, fingertips entwined. Netflix streaming on the TV without the two even watching.

But Paul wasn't here.

Paul left. He left Will. Left Will with a barrage of memories hitting him from all sides. Emotions garbled together. Old insecurities and newfound confidence warring around inside him. So much resentment and anger over taking away his choices, at not trusting Will. At believing their relationship would disappear when his memories returned.

Paul left but Sonny didn't.

 _Knock Knock Knock_

Will spit out the pen sticking out of his mouth and closed it inside his journal. He wasn't making much progress with his memories tonight anyway. Something about a tin and New Year's. It didn't make much sense yet.

"Oh," Will mumbled when he opened the door. "Sonny. Again."

He sighed, holding onto the side of the door with a tight grip. Paul hadn't even been gone more than a few days and Sonny wouldn't stop hovering.

Why did everyone assume what he felt for Paul would disappear without amnesia?

"Hi," Sonny quipped, bristling with energy. Grin bright even with Will's less than joyous greeting. "How are you?"

"You saw me two hours ago," Will pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"Well, a lot can change in such a short time. I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by."

Will didn't believe that for a single second but didn't know what else to do. If he turned Sonny away, he'd come back the next day even harder. Better to appease him now and get it over with.

Will pushed the door open the rest of the way and turned around. He made sure to sit at his desk chair, keeping far away from his bed.

Sonny didn't have any such problems. He sat, back straight, posture and smile confident, right in the middle of the bed.

"What's this?" Sonny asked, picking up Will's journal.

"Nothing," Will jumped from his spot, reaching for the book as Sonny opened it up. The pen marking where Will left off.

Sonny skimmed the words, holding the book out of Will's reach.

"No, give that back," Will urged.

He reached his arms around Sonny, failing to reach the journal. The two ended up in a tangle of limbs. Sonny leaning on the bed, book outstretched. Will's arms wrapped around Sonny, kneeling over him.

Sonny laughed, angling his head to grin up at Will.

"You're remembering."

Will finally snatched the book out of Sonny's hands, easing himself up into a standing position. Journal held tight to his chest.

Sonny didn't move much at all. He reclined on the bed, elbows holding him up.

"I still have that tin. I can show you," Sonny offered, a smile never once leaving his face.

"I don't even know what it means. I told you. What I do remember doesn't make much sense yet," Will said, tightening his grip on the journal.

"But you will remember," Sonny promised. "You'll remember how important it was to you, to us."

Will stood still as Sonny sat up. He reached his hands out, grabbing Will's wrists in a firm hold.

"I use that tin to hold my New Year's resolutions for the year. I write something down I want to happen and on New Year's Eve I check to see if it came true."

Will swallowed, lips in a straight line as Sonny's thumb traced over the top of his hand.

"I've had good luck when it comes to you and those resolutions," Sonny continued, head cocked to the side. "When we're together this year and you see what I wrote down; we'll have another memory to make."

"That's a lot of presumption," Will said, pulling away at last. He turned around, putting the journal in the top drawer of his desk.

Sonny followed. His front pressed against Will's back.

"No, it's not," Sonny said with a breathy laugh, arms sliding around Will's waist. "It's inevitable."

Will, lips pressed together, nostrils flaring, held still as a statue.

"I'm not too big on inevitability right now."

"You will be," Sonny whispered, nose pressed into the back of Will's ear. Hands firm along Will's hips. "You wanna know what my resolution was? It's the same as the one you almost remember. The same as it'll always be."

Will shivered, Sonny's breath ghosting along his sensitive neck. God, he didn't know how to react.

He was so sick and tired of everyone telling him what to do. So tired of everyone waiting for him to run into Sonny's arms like a well-trained dog. But he couldn't deny the attention felt nice, the affection. Couldn't deny how it felt to have someone, anyone, hold him and tell him how much they wanted him. Especially Sonny, Sonny, who Will started to remember left him without a word. Abandoned him before he died. Sonny who made Will chase and chase and chase until he couldn't chase anymore.

It wasn't Paul's arms around him and it wasn't Paul's confident, sexy words. Because Paul left.

Paul left and Sonny stayed.

Wouldn't it be nice, inevitability? Wouldn't it be nice to stop hiding behind corners when he saw Sonny coming? Wouldn't it be nice to fall into something comfortable?

Even if only for a little while.

Will cleared his throat, words small and unsure.

"Wh-what did you write?"

Will could hear the smile in Sonny's voice, could feel the pressure in the arms around him tighten. Could feel Sonny's groin pushing against his bottom.

"Get Will Horton to fall in love with me."

Something nudged at the back of his mind. Disbelief and skepticism hitting him in equal waves. Will wasn't even certain if these were old feelings or new. But he could picture it. Sitting in a bed, play fighting over a tin. Feeling like everything would always be okay as long as Sonny kept looking at him that way.

Will didn't notice when Sonny started kissing behind his ear. He didn't react much at all beyond a slight trembling. It felt almost like it was happening to someone else instead of him. His mind too far into the past to differentiate what was happening now.

He didn't push Sonny away.

Not when Sonny's lips roamed his neck. Not when Sonny unbuttoned his shirt, pulled down his jeans, hands mapping his exposed skin. Not when Sonny pulled him toward the bed, shoving him against the pillows.

Will didn't push Sonny away. But he didn't do much of anything at all, either.

Head fighting between the past and the present, Will let Sonny touch him, kiss him. Let his hands and mouth worship Will until both were nearly nude. It wasn't until Sonny flipped Will onto his front, face pressing into the pillows did Will stir.

The pillows still smelled like Paul.

Will clung to them every night since Paul left, half desperation, half exasperation. Hating Paul so much for leaving him behind and knowing he could never really hate him at all. Understanding and hating that he did in equal measure.

Paul loved Will. He might not have said it in such explicit terms but Will knew. He said it in his actions and in his words. How he listened and the way he let Will be himself, always. Paul didn't have to say it. Will knew. Just like the way Paul knew how Will felt. Or the way Will thought Paul knew.

Maybe if both were a little more vocal, they wouldn't be in this position. Paul overseas and Will in his underwear with Sonny Kiriakis rubbing against him.

Paul left, yes. He left so it would be easier for Will to be with Sonny.

So, why didn't Will want it?

When Sonny's fingertips dug into the waistband of Will's boxers, Will finally did something.

"Wait," Will ordered, panting. Only now feeling his own erection digging into the mattress below him. He dislodged Sonny until they were face to face on their knees. "Wait, stop."

"What?" Sonny asked, chest heaving.

Will, keeping his eyes on Sonny's face and nothing else, said, as always with Sonny, the wrong thing.

"Paul."

Will could see the change in Sonny right away. See the lines harden on his face. See his posture tense, his hands, already reaching out for Will, clench into fists.

"Paul isn't here. He left you, remember?"

Will, hiding a wince, nodded.

"Yeah, he did. But I can't do this," Will gestured between himself and Sonny.

"Yes, we can," Sonny urged, hands unclenching and reaching for Will's naked skin once more. "We can finally be together again, the way we should have all along."

Will turned his head to the side when Sonny went in for a kiss. He scrambled off the bed, looking for his clothes.

God, he didn't even remember Sonny taking them off. Didn't even know how this happened or how he let it get this far.

"No, no, no, come back," Sonny said. He took Will's shirt out of his hands and tossed it over his head.

"Hey," Will complained.

"This is everything we need," Sonny backed Will up against the wall. "This will prove exactly how good together we really are."

Sonny kissed him again only for Will to push him away.

"Stop doing that," Will ordered, keeping a fair bit of distance between them.

"Why?" Sonny huffed. Voice a strange combination of incredulous and whiny. "Because of Paul? He left you, Will. He left and I'm here. I'm here and I want you."

"Well," Will stood up taller, eyes holding Sonny steady. "I don't want you."

For a few seconds, Will didn't know how Sonny would respond.

"This is stupid," Sonny said after struggling to find his words. "You and I are always going to come back to each other in the end."

"Stop it with your inevitable, crap," Will groaned. He marched around the small space, gathering Sonny's clothes. "I decide my life. Me. Not you, not Paul, not fate, not anyone. Me. And what I want is for you to leave."

Will opened his door and tossed Sonny's clothes into the hallway. Melodramatic? Yes, but Will was not going to be in such a small enclosed space with Sonny when he was like this any longer.

He didn't even care that a somewhat familiar looking man at the end of the hallway saw him. The only neighbor Will knew was Paul and that didn't matter anymore.

Sonny stomped the short walk out the door. He gathered up his clothes, staring at Will in disbelief.

"There isn't any point denying me. I'm all you have left."

"Yeah?" Will asked, throwing Sonny's shoes at his feet. "We'll see about that."

Will slammed the door closed, leaving Sonny with the man standing at the end of the hallway.

Throwing his hands over his face, Will let out a loud, frustrated groan.

He was stupid. He was so stupid.

Sonny was stupid.

Paul was stupid.

Will was the stupidest of them all.

He didn't know what was wrong with him tonight. Why he almost let Sonny do whatever he wanted. Why the thought of Paul pulled him away when Paul himself told Will to be with Sonny.

Will didn't know much of anything these days.

After locking the deadbolt, hearing Sonny grumbling outside, Will headed for the bathroom. He needed a long shower to wash away the memories of the past and the unease of the present.

Certain of one thing, though. Whoever Will ended up with in the end, it wouldn't be Sonny Kiriakis.

* * *

 **A/N**

Trigger warning: dubcon. Will gets caught up in a memory and neither actively participates nor pushes Sonny away when Sonny starts kissing and disrobing Will. Sonny also gets pushy when Will finally tells him to stop but ultimately listens to Will.


	2. Chapter 2

**The More You Love Someone...**

 **The More You Want To Kill Them**

 **#2**

Will's unease toward Sonny didn't lessen with time. He understood why Sonny blew up on him. He thought Will lead him on. And, yeah, it is a bit distasteful to mention someone else when you're in bed together but what did Sonny expect?

Will wasn't running on full cylinders that night anyway. If anything, Sonny should have kept his lips and his hands to himself. He knew Will was vulnerable and not himself while in the midst of a memory.

Either way, Will did everything he could the next few days to steer clear of Sonny. He hid behind bushes and took detours down dark alleys. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling someone watched his every move. Always felt someone's eyes on him, always looking over his shoulder.

Unfortunately, everywhere he went, Sonny seemed to follow. Like a demented version of _Mary Had a Little Lamb_ , _William Had a Little Stalker_. Which he demonstrated by jumping behind a statue as Sonny rounded a corner.

Feeling ridiculous, Will squatted down to wait until the coast was clear. He praised the excellent condition of his thighs because he wasn't going anywhere. Not when Xander sauntered around the opposite corner only a few seconds after Sonny.

Sonny and Xander stopped in front of each other, sizing the other up.

"Xander," Sonny sneered, nose in the air.

"Sonny," Xander drawled, lips quirked up. "What? No, Mommy here to hold your hand? I thought children weren't allowed unsupervised in public?"

Will stifled a guffaw. He ducked down lower when Xander's eyes drifted his way.

"Stay out of my way," Sonny ordered, arms crossed, one foot tapping in front of the other.

"By all means," Xander swept his arms out in front of Sonny. "I won't stop you from stomping off in a snit. Go on home and whine some more about how Will's a giant cocktease who won't give it up."

Will's jaw dropped as Sonny growled.

"Shut up, Xander!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared," Xander rolled his eyes. "I still stand by what I said before. I'm sure the amnesia was an excuse to stay away from you."

The two bickered back and forth, Sonny barely keeping up with the quips. When Will's thighs and temper couldn't take it anymore, Sonny's phone rang and he, as Xander predicted, stomped off.

Will jumped after he stood up and saw Xander leaning against the statue, arms crossed and smile big.

"Well, well, well," Xander leered. "What do we have here?"

Will, rubbing against his aching thighs, ignored the question.

"You saw me, didn't you? That's why you mentioned my name?"

"Of course," Xander purred. He started off in a slow jaunt. Will, inexplicably, followed him. "And who can blame you? I'd run and hide from old Sonny boy too if riling him up wasn't so much fun."

The two walked side by side in silence for a few minutes. Will didn't know where they were going or why he was even walking with Xander at all. It isn't like they had anything in common or knew much about the other. Will wasn't even sure if he ever met Xander before he came back to Salem.

But, Xander did seem to know a lot about what went on with Sonny.

"Did you make it up?" Will asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" Xander didn't even glance Will's way.

"What Sonny said about me? Did he really call me a cocktease?"

"Well," Xander responded. He snatched Will's wrist, guiding him down a side street before letting go. "He didn't say it in so many words but that was the gist of it. Something about you leading him on before pushing him away and talking about Paul. Whine, whine, bitch, bitch. The usual with Sonny."

Will scoffed, skin, oddly enough, tingling where Xander touched him.

"Was he right?" Xander asked, glancing at Will with a slight gleam in his eye. Something calculating and glinting mischievously.

Will refused to acknowledge how attractive it was.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, he was all over me and I pushed him away. Threw his clothes in the hall and kicked him out."

Xander let out a bark of laughter.

Something else Will refused to acknowledge.

"I wish I could have seen that," Xander said once his laughter died down.

"You often wish you could see Sonny in his underwear?" Will teased, smiling playing at his lips.

Xander rolled his eyes, shoulder bumping into Will. Somehow, without Will realizing, they moved much closer together.

"I wouldn't mind seeing you," Xander admitted, eyeing Will up and down.

Will felt his face erupt in flames, heart pounding against his chest. He pushed aside his embarrassment and Xander's obvious glee at his reaction.

"Where are we going?"

"A place I know," Xander responded glibly. He caught Will's eye, a grin making his face heat up again. "Trust me. You'll love it."

* * *

By the time Will swallowed the last of his beer, Xander slid over an unopened water bottle.

"Thanks," Will yelled over the deafening techno music inside the nightclub.

Will guzzled half the water before he noticed Xander staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" Will practically screamed.

"Nothing," Xander murmured, sliding in nice and close to Will. He leaned right into Will's space, lips brushing his ear. "Enjoying yourself?"

Will nodded, goosebumps littering his arms despite the warmth in the air.

Xander grinned.

"When did you even get back in town?" Will asked if only to distract himself from Xander's close proximity.

"A few days ago," Xander answered. His fingertips slid up and down Will's forearm, circling around his wrist. "Victor and Brady-,"

"Stop right there," Will put one hand on Xander's firm, firm chest. Sidetracked for a moment, Will stared at the way Xander's shirt pulled at his pectorals. Shaking it off, Will said, "I don't want to hear about any boring Kiriakis family drama."

"Can't talk much here anyway," Xander mused, encircling Will's wrists and keeping them against his chest.

Will could feel how hard Xander's heart pumped, strong and steady.

"Why don't you come upstairs with me?" Xander suggested, with a lazy grin.

Will swallowed once before nodding.

He let Xander pull him toward a dark staircase. Excitement racing through his veins as Xander grinned at him lasciviously.

Halfway up the stairs, Xander pulled Will against him, kissing the corner of his mouth.

Will couldn't have stopped the high-pitched giggle he emitted even if he tried. Xander, pleased with the reaction, guided Will up the rest of the stairs with his hand on Will's lower back.

Will's shoulder bumped into a man leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder to apologize. For the briefest of moments, Will thought he recognized the stranger's silhouette. The fleeting thought vanished when Xander's hand slid down and cupped Will's butt.

* * *

Will's head bounced off a hard wall, Xander's mouth capturing his grunt of pain.

He couldn't breathe through the smoke and the scent of lust and dirtywrongsogoodon'tstop in the air. Will clung to Xander's meaty shoulders, legs wrapped tight around his waist. Their mouths and tongues twisted together. Panting into each other's mouths. Groaning and moaning and throwing his head back with a loud yowl when Xander bit into the base of his neck.

Xander chuckled into Will's skin, rubbing himself against Will's jeans. Hefting Will up higher on the wall, getting a better grip.

The bass of the music vibrated against the walls, reverberating inside their chests. Made it easier for Will to finally acknowledge what that cocky grin of Xander's did to him. Made it easier for Will to forget Paul. Forget Xander being his ex-husband's cousin. Forget everything but Xander's ridiculously large and strong hands on every part of him.

Forget they were in a semi-private room in a club. Forget that anyone could walk in on them at any time. Forget anyone could see Will clinging to Xander, wanton and desperate.

Will whined, yanking Xander back to his mouth again. Hands dragging through Xander's thick hair, tugging and pulling and shuddering. Whimpering when those large hands slid down to cup Will's ass, squeezing and kneading.

Will didn't even know he started pleading and begging until Xander shushed him, easing Will onto his feet.

"S'alright, baby," Xander promised smugly. Dropping to his knees as he pressed Will into the wall by the hips. "I got you."

Will couldn't stay still, hips gyrating and eyes blown wide watching Xander unzip his jeans.

"Oh, God," Will groaned, head slamming into the wall once more when Xander's warm, wet mouth swallowed his tip. "Oh, God."

Xander thrived off of Will's praise. Groaned around Will at the tight grip on his hair. Picked up his pace as Will ground his pelvis into his face. Dusted off his rusty skills and turned Will into a trembling, weak-kneed little boy.

"No, no, no," Will cried when Xander pulled off. He moaned again when he saw Xander's shiny red lips and flushed face.

"Off," Xander ordered, yanking at Will's jeans.

Will connected their lips together, licking the taste of himself off Xander's mouth. Then the two of them yanked at the other's clothes. Tripping and groaning, stumbling to the dubiously placed sofa in the room.

Will relished the feel of Xander's body hovering over him, almost crushing him into the sofa cushions.

Will sucked on the tip of Xander's tongue as Xander wrapped his hand around both their cocks. Their precum just enough to make their slip and slide together on the right side of painful.

Will babbled the whole time, a litany of "yes, god, fuck, oh god, oh god" while Xander nipped and teased at his skin. So many, "so good, baby, just like that, fuck, yes, so good for me."

Will didn't feel even the slightest bit of shame lapping at Xander's hand once they finished. Slurping up their mixed cum and sweat. Swallowing down three of Xander's long fingers into the back of his throat.

Xander groaned, long and loud, forehead thumping against Will's chest.

Will stretched out his neck, smiling, chest heaving. He hadn't felt this good in such a long time. Even if the circumstances weren't ideal.

"I don't even care you only did this to piss off Sonny," Will declared. "So, so worth it."

Xander chuckled, lips brushing along Will's nipples.

"Well, now I know why he's so obsessed with you."

Will rolled his eyes but kept smiling. He wiggled down a bit until his face was level with Xander's. He pressed their lips together for a dirty, filthy kiss.

"Fuck," Xander said, shaking his head once they pulled away. "This was much better than I anticipated."

Will nipped his lips once again, fingers digging into his hair. Bumping their spent cocks together just to hear Xander grunt.

Something took over Will. Something wild and aching. The same thing that made it so easy for Will to follow an almost stranger into a somewhat classier version of a club's backroom.

What did anyone expect? Will was a healthy, sexual young man. He couldn't go from getting it on a daily basis to going cold turkey.

The man Will loved dumped him after promising he would be by Will's side. His ex-husband wouldn't take no for an answer. Xander bending him over the nearest surface seemed like the best idea Will ever had.

"Take me home," Will demanded, eyes glistening.

"Tempting," Xander admitted, hands gliding up and down Will's naked sides.

"No strings," Will purred.

Xander grinned, dark and playful.

"Perfect."


	3. Chapter 3

**The More You Love Someone...**

 **The More You Want To Kill Them**

 **#3**

The thing with Will and Xander was just that. A thing.

There were no deep, hidden feelings. No pining. No angst. Only two men ready and willing to fall into bed whenever the mood struck them. Sometimes the mood struck in the middle of the day in a private alcove in the park. Sometimes the mood struck a good five times in a row. One particularly memorable moment the mood struck in the Kiriakis Mansion. The whole family sitting to dinner while Xander plowed him over Victor's desk only one room away.

But, as far as feelings go, there were none. The only talking they did was the dirty kind. The only confessions they had were, coincidentally, also the dirty kind. The situation suited Will and Xander fine.

Will knew one day Xander would reveal the whole thing to Sonny in a rather humiliating, public moment. Oh, well. Will was an adult and he could sleep with whoever he wanted. And it was shocking how often Will wanted Sonny's older, sexier cousin.

When Paul left Will behind, Will knew this wasn't what he had in mind. But, Paul left and what he would want didn't matter either.

If getting pounded by Xander distracted Will from Paul's absence, all the better. It also distracted him from Sonny's incessant hounding. The steady trickle of memories still coming back. And the unshakeable feeling someone watched him everywhere he went.

Most of the time, a memory would strike Will at the oddest moment. Sometimes a slight impression, sometimes a full blown flashback. Never in order and never making much sense without context.

What no one warned him about with the serum, though, were the migraines. Deep, unrelenting migraines that started without warning, blinding Will with pain.

The more memories that came back, the more migraines Will felt.

Fed up, Will spent an afternoon in the hospital undergoing scans and tests and bloodwork. The researchers salivated at the thought of Will opening up for study and analysis.

Will didn't care what they did as long as they drugged him up for the pain.

After hours in the cold, antiseptic-smelling hospital, the doctors and residents all blurred into one. However, near the end of the day, a somewhat familiar face drew the list vial of blood.

For a moment Will thought it was the man he saw in his hallway when he kicked Sonny out. Or even the guy he bumped into at the club that first night with Xander but no.

This man, doctor by the looks of it, was familiar in an entirely new way.

Dark hair, blue eyes. Handsome face covered in facial hair and a half smile. Massive shoulders and thick arms which made his white doctor's coat look obscene.

Will strained the workings of his memory. Tried to put a name to the face and a time for when they might have met.

"Uh," Will said, as the man wrapped, yet another piece of gauze and a cotton ball to the crook of his elbow. "We know each other. Right?"

The man nodded while writing a label on the collection of blood samples.

"You really don't remember?"

Will shrugged. "My memory is splotchy, as you should know from the case notes. You seem familiar but I don't know why."

"You know," the man swiveled on his stool and faced Will head-on. "Finding out you were the subject of this study made me sign up?"

"Why?" Will questioned, getting an eye-full of the man's thick, thick thighs.

"I wanted to see you for myself," the man answered.

"How did we know each other, then? When did we meet?"

"A long time ago, now," the man admitted. "Six, seven years. We weren't close. I don't think we even liked each other. We met at a club and later, you introduced me to Sonny. My name is-,"

"Brian," Will whispered before shaking his head. "Right?"

Brian nodded.

Will stuck his hand out, meeting Brian's hand in a firm grip.

"Nice to meet you. You know, again," Will offered with a sheepish smile.

"You too," Brian chuckled. "So, remember anything yet?"

Will thought for a long moment before shaking his head with a shrug.

"Not so much," Will explained. "I mean, nothing concrete. I don't remember you per say but I get the gist of how we felt about each other. We used to fight over Sonny, I think."

"You could call it that. You had him. I wanted him. You got him in the end."

"Maybe you were the lucky one," Will mumbled under his breath.

Brian opened his mouth before closing it, fast.

"Surprised?" Will asked with a pleased smile.

"I heard you divorced," Brian admitted. "And I'd heard around about all the drama with you and him before you died. Or, well, didn't die. Either way, I guess I'd never expect to hear you talk about him like that."

"A lot can happen in six or seven years," Will said.

"So I see," Brian admitted with a nod.

The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments. The other residents ambled by, faces stuck in clipboards. Reviewing Will's files or typing away at their tablets.

They both jumped when the door to the large room opened. Another shift of residents and nursing students clambered inside.

Brian slipped from Will's side with a quick wink. He carried the vials of Will's blood out the door and Will felt no shame watching him walk away.

He didn't notice someone winding, yet another, blood pressure cuff around his left arm. Didn't hear most of what everyone said above him. It wasn't like they were talking to Will anyway, only about him.

The vaguely familiar shape of a man sitting in the waiting room caught Will's attention. Will couldn't see much. Only a general outline of a tall, muscular man visible through the window of the door.

But a temporal thermometer rolled across his forehead, distracting him.

When it was time to leave, Will listened to strict instructions. He needed to return in the morning and not drink any alcohol or caffeine in the meantime.

Brian met him in the lobby.

"Hey," Brian cleared his throat, scratching at the back of his head. "My shift's over now. Wanna get out of here? See how much things really do change."

"Depends," Will answered with a coy smile. "You gonna take notes on me the whole time?"

"Trust me," Brian let out a short laugh, "my interest is definitely not professional."

"In that case, yes."

* * *

The two ended up in a swanky bar attached to a new condo complex where Brian resided.

They spent the whole drive to the place with a steady stream of conversation. Brian explaining his days in medical school, how excited he was to begin his residency. Will glossed over his own meager attempts at getting back into writing. Much more interested in Brian and the past they shared.

They didn't get a chance to talk too in-depth about it until their hostess sat them at a candlelit booth.

Will enjoyed it. He liked it even more when he saw truffle fries on the menu.

Unfortunately, he couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching him. Fearing Sonny would pop up at any moment, Will glanced around the room.

There was only a fair smattering of other customers. A couple on a date, engrossed in one another. A group of women giggling at a man who walked in a few minutes after Will and Brian.

When Will glanced in the man's direction, he could have sworn the guy's head turned the other way. But, Will didn't give it much thought. There was no way the man's tall, muscular outline could be Sonny.

Will shook off his unease and focused on unwrapping the paper around his straw. Per the doctor's orders, he stuck to drinking water.

"So," Will said, stirring the ice around his cup, looking at Brian from beneath his eyelashes, "tell me about our past."

Will listened to Brian talk all throughout dinner. Asking for clarification or throwing his hands over his face in embarrassment.

After eating, Will wrapped his hands around his glass and leaned across the empty table.

"Wait, so I introduced you to Sonny? And you went after him anyway? You're such a douche."

"Hey," Brian let out a sharp bark of laughter. "I didn't know you two had your weird, unspoken thing. I thought you were a closet case."

"Wasn't I?"

Will took a drink from his straw. Lips wrapped around the plastic tip, slurping as his cheeks hollowed. He looked up to see Brian staring at his mouth.

"So," Will leaned further across the table, licking up a stray droplet of water sliding down the straw. "It was only Sonny you wanted? Not me?"

"Uh," Brian floundered, shifting in his seat, gulping down a swig of his beer to delay answering. "I guess. I mean, I thought you were really-uh-you know. Hot. But, I mean, Sonny sort of caught my attention and you were still-,"

"In the closet?" Will guessed, amused.

"That," Brian acknowledged, giving Will a quick once-over. "You also were a little too insecure. I like confidence."

Will edged even closer, playing with his straw and Brian. "You weren't even a little curious?"

Brian's eyes flickered between Will's eyes and lips.

"I get the feeling I was," Will said with a smile. "I mean, considering how you look now. You must have been just as sexy when you were younger. I can't imagine meeting you and not seeing the possibility."

"I'm a bit more filled out than I used to be," Brian said although he looked pleased with the compliment.

"Bulked up?" Will asked, downright leering at Brian's massive biceps.

Will slid his hand the few inches across the table to clasp Brian's. He grinned when Brian turned his palm over, intertwining their fingers.

"You said you live here, right?" Will looked up toward the ceiling.

"Yes," Brian answered, voice low and husky.

"Show me?" Will asked, already pulling Brian out of their booth.

* * *

"Wow," Brian panted, flopping onto his back. Body sweat-soaked and satisfied, grinning up at nothing with a dumb smiling on his face.

"Mmm," Will agreed. Enjoying the twinge in his lower back. The unfamiliar but pleasant tingle of beard burn around his thighs and ass.

"Not how I thought meeting you again was gonna go," Brian admitted with a laugh.

Will rested his chin on Brian's arm and wiggled his eyebrows.

Brian rolled his eyes, leaning up for a quick kiss.

"You know," Will said as he sat up, arms stretching over his head. "I think I remembered something about you."

"Oh, yeah? What?"

"Well," Will hopped off the bed, wincing as he gingerly looked around for his clothes. "Pretty sure when you were balls deep I thought to myself, 'I used to hate looking at this smug face every time I walked into a coffee shop.' But, then you hit a really good spot and I couldn't focus anymore."

Brian laughed, long and loud. Head thrown back, completely unashamed of his nudity.

Will located his boxers dangling precariously over a large TV. He vaguely remembered ripping them off his own body when he caught sight of Brian naked. Who needed things like undergarments or dignity when something that magnificent stood before him?

"Where are you going?" Brian asked. He kneeled on the edge of the bed, hands reaching out and dragging Will back against him.

"Home," Will answered, whimpering when Brian mouthed between his pecs.

"Why?" Brian whispered into Will's skin, tongue tracing up a vein along his neck.

"Because I'm tired and we both have to get to the hospital early in the morning."

"Stay here," Brian urged, pulling Will back into bed. "We can go in together."

"Maybe," Will laughed, falling all too easily onto Brian's lap. "But, you know, this isn't gonna go anywhere."

"Oh, yeah?" Brian asked, distracting Will and himself with long, deep kisses.

"Hung up on someone else," Will managed to say once they surfaced for air.

"Sonny?" Brian teased, laughing when Will pinched his side.

"No," Will rolled his eyes. "My boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, whatever. Paul."

He said it as if it was an answer unto itself. As if Paul's name explained everything.

Brian rolled Will over so he could straddle him.

"If you're so hung up on him, why aren't you together?"

"Because he's an idiot."

Brian, holding himself up above Will, let his eyes roam up and down Will's naked body.

"Obviously."

Will grinned even while his entire body blushed.

"Just sex?" Will asked, hand sliding down Brian's stomach, resting in a patch of hair.

"God, yes," Brian moaned, Will's hand wrapping around him.


	4. Chapter 4

**#4**

 ***dubcon warning. See A/N below for details***

"Hey," Will said when Brian walked into his usual room in the hospital. The same room Will always used during testing. "Is it time for me to get out of here, yet?"

"Nope," Brian responded as he pulled up a rolling stool to sit next to Will.

Will didn't bother stifling his groan. Headaches or not, he hated all the testing.

He grumbled when Brian laughed at him and gave him his usual wink.

The two had a system for the rare moments where Brian needed to work with Will during his testing. It had been a few weeks since the two started seeing each other. They had fun, hung out. Sometimes they'd get drinks or something to eat. Sometimes they'd play video games or catch a movie. Half the time they'd end up in bed together or the nearest available surface.

It was different than Will's thing with Xander. Xander was nothing but fast, rough, adventurous sex. A lot of the appeal with Xander was Will knowing he shouldn't be with him. Whereas with Brian, the two were closer to friends with benefits than fuck buddies.

But, when at the hospital, the two stuck the friendship side of the scale. Anything more and Brian wouldn't get to work with Will at all and he was the only doctor Will trusted here.

"You're the one who volunteered for this study, right?" Brian reminded Will.

"Oh, like the hospital didn't want to jump all over me," Will said. "They're the ones that gave me the serum anyway. They're just trying to save their butts."

"You're the idiot who insisted on injecting an untested serum into yourself," Brian said. Prepping to take more blood samples. "You're lucky you aren't paralyzed or a zombie by now."

The two bickered back and forth until Brian gave Will the all clear to go.

"My breaks in a few minutes," Brian told Will as they walked out of the room. "You wanna grab some lunch?"

"Can't," Will said. "Ari has a dance class soon and she wants me to watch her."

"Ah," Brian nodded, holding a clipboard to his chest. "Well, what about tonight? I heard about this Indian restaurant about twenty minutes away. I can pick you up. We could make a night of it."

Will paused for a moment. That sounded a little too much like a date for his liking. Every other time, the two would end up places without any plans. It would just happen.

Will didn't want to change any of that. He didn't think Brian wanted to either. Or, at least, he used to.

"Uh, well," Will stopped short when he saw the hopeful expression on Brian's face.

This was too surreal.

"I've got therapy after Ari's class. I can't really miss it," Will said.

"Right," Brian said, biting his bottom lip. "Yeah, no, you need to be there. And we can go another night."

"Maybe, yeah," Will evaded.

Brian looked around the small hallway. When he didn't see anyone, he kissed Will full on the lips. Something he'd never done at the hospital before.

"I'll text you later," Brian said with a teasing smile.

Will watched him walk away. Wondering just what he was getting into.

* * *

Ari's dance class cheered Will right up. He loved watching her coltish, uncoordinated limbs swaying this way and that.

He did not love what came after.

Will didn't have a problem meeting up with Gabi to drop Ari off. He did have a problem with meeting at the Kiriakis mansion. As if that wasn't bad enough, Ari didn't want to let Will go.

Ari screeched at the top of her lungs she didn't want to go with Gabi. She wanted to stay with Will. And while Will would have enjoyed having Ari with him all day, he didn't want to step on Gabi's toes. Plus, he had therapy in just a few short minutes.

As Ari was in the middle of a full-blown meltdown, Sonny arrived with Xander on his heels.

Just what Will needed.

"What's going on here?" Sonny demanded with his arms crossed.

"Are you really that inept you can't figure out what's happening?" Xander wondered with a smirk.

"Shut up, Xander," Sonny hissed.

"Don't," Will threatened, pointing a finger between Sonny and Xander both. "Ari doesn't want to go with Gabi but I have somewhere I need to be. It's fine."

"Where could you possibly go that's important enough to stand this?" Sonny sneered, gesturing to a sobbing Ari.

"It's fine," Gabi insisted. "Ari's overwhelmed and pushing boundaries. We can't give in every time she cries."

Will took a few minutes to hug and kiss Ari, promising to see her soon. He tried to follow Ari and Gabi out the door but Sonny pulled him back.

"Will, we need to talk," Sonny insisted.

"No, we really don't," Will said, trying not to look at Xander and his blinding smile.

"We haven't had a chance to talk about what happened. You're avoiding me and I need to talk to you."

"Can't imagine why," Xander quipped.

"Why are you still here?" Sonny hissed. "I'm trying to have a conversation."

"Failing to have a conversation, you mean," Xander smiled.

Sonny and Xander argued as if Will wasn't even there. He could only take so much.

"Oh my god, shut up!" Will yelled.

Xander, downright leering at Will, held up his hands innocently.

"Remind me to piss you off next time," Xander murmured causing Will to glare at him.

"Xander," Will warned.

"Whatever," Xander said. "I've got somewhere to be. See you around, baby."

Xander left after giving Will a loud swat on the butt.

"What the hell was that?" Sonny demanded, face tense.

"Nothing," Will groaned with an eye roll. "I need to go."

"No," Sonny argued. "You have to talk to me first."

"I don't have to do anything," Will countered. "I'm gonna be late for therapy."

"Too little too late for that," Sonny snorted.

"What is your problem?" Will asked with a huff, halfway out the door.

"No, I'm sorry," Sonny said. "Just, promise me you'll come back. Things ended poorly the other day but I know we can fix this, especially if you're in therapy."

"I'm not in therapy for you," Will argued. "And there's nothing to talk about. You and I aren't going to happen."

"What are you gonna do?" Sonny asked. "Wait around for Paul? I'm right here. I'm the only one that wants you."

Will was seconds away from blurting out a few hurtful truths to Sonny but stopped himself just in time.

"Stay away from me," Will said through clenched teeth. "And stop following me everywhere!"

Will stormed off but not before hearing Sonny's insistent, "I'm not following you!"

* * *

When your memories return in tiny, terrifying batches, and the steadiest presence in your life leaves, therapy is the place to go. Someone who gets paid to listen to your problems and pretends to care? Why didn't anyone force Will into this sooner?

As if he didn't have enough topics to discuss, his therapist wanted to talk about Ben Weston.

Other people in Salem might have no problem accepting Ben walking about town. Will wasn't one of them.

There was something inherently wrong about the man who strangled him to death walking free. If anyone else forgave Ben, felt compassion for Ben due to his traumatic childhood. If they believed Ben changed and could redeem himself, fine. Good for them. Will couldn't, not yet. Maybe not ever.

Sadly, Will's therapist disagreed. Claimed Will would feel better if he accepted Ben. If he could see Ben as a human being instead of his murderer. Thought Will would feel safer if he got to a place where seeing Ben didn't unsettle him.

For the most part, Will and his therapist got along quite well.

Unfortunately, sometimes his therapist encouraged Will to do things. Things that make him question his therapist's sanity. Things Will didn't want to do. Things that make Will uncomfortable. And, in fact, led to drinking copious amounts of alcohol to complete the task.

Things like, not running away from his murderer the next time he sees him, for instance.

After the therapy session, Will couldn't bear to go home. He didn't know how to deal with everything. His headaches and doctor's visits. Ari's reluctance to leave him. Sonny's annoying combination of insults and thirst. Xander's everything. Brian's potential feelings.

All of that and Will still couldn't get Paul out of his head. If Paul was here, he would know what to do. Hell, if Paul was here, Will wouldn't have half these problems in the first place.

No, he couldn't go back home. Not when Paul's absence made the apartment seem that much smaller. Everything reminded him of Paul. Not even a round of hot but meaningless sex with Xander or Brian seemed appealing. In fact, the two of them would make him feel even worse.

Instead, Will found himself at an outdoor café. Figuring the sunshine would do him some good. Even if he couldn't shake the feeling of someone's eyes off him.

Halfway through his first drink, Ben Weston walked up to his table.

"Hey," Ben said, hands holding the back of an empty chair across from Will. "Is it okay if I sit?"

Will remembered what his therapist harped on about, not running away from Ben. They were in a public place with lots of witnesses. And it would make Will's day drinking less pathetic if he had company.

But seeing Ben looking just as nervous as Will felt made it easier to decide.

"Sure," Will said, sitting up straighter when Ben sat down.

The two say across from each other in awkward, tense silence. If only to look away from Ben, Will slurped up the last of his long island ice tea in time for the waiter to come back.

"Let me get you another drink," Ben offered.

That was the best idea Will heard all day. And when Will finished his second drink, he let Ben order him a third and then a fourth.

All which led to Will feeling loosey goosey in the middle of the day. Sitting across from Ben Weston, a plethora of glasses around the table, pouring out his soul.

In hindsight, not his brightest move.

"So, like," Will slurred, hands gesticulating all across the table, "I don't get it. Why did he leave me? Didn't he see I was happiest with him?"

"It's rough, man," Ben commiserated, nursing his third beer. "It's his loss, leaving someone as great as you behind."

"I know!" Will slammed his hand on the metal table, nearly upending several of the tall glasses. "I mean, I'm a total catch. And I can get, like, all the guys. But the one guy I do want left. What is up with that?"

Ben nodded, lips smacking together. He placed both his hands over Will's and leaned across the table.

"I wouldn't ever leave you."

"Thank you!" Will gushed, not even registering how close Ben was.

"Did I tell you how sorry I am about what I did?" Ben asked, hands sliding up to grip Will's forearms. "Because I am. I never wanted to hurt you. Not you, never you."

"Uh," Will blinked a few times, head sluggish. "Okay."

"I'd never, ever hurt you again," Ben promised.

"Right," Will agreed despite something in the back of his mind cautioning him.

"Hey," Ben suggested with a bright smile, grip firm on Will's forearms, "let's get out of here."

"Okay," Will agreed with ease, stumbling to his feet. He tripped over his chair but, thankfully, Ben caught him.

"Here," Ben wrapped his arm around Will, "I got you."

* * *

The two walked in the sunshine. Their heads bent together, clinging to one another.

"I love the sun," Will declared, head angled up toward the sky when they stopped outside the green space in front of the Martin mansion.

Will detached from Ben, arms spread wide. He laughed when Ben caught his hand and twirled him around. They hobbled into a dance. Ben doing all the work to keep Will from tumbling to the ground more than anything.

"It's so beautiful out," Will insisted, clinging to Ben's shoulders.

"You're beautiful," Ben whispered, eyeing Will's face.

Will laughed, smacking Ben on the chest.

"I'm serious," Ben pulled Will even closer. "You're so beautiful and full of life and I wish I never hurt you."

Will swallowed, head still spinning. He knew there was something wrong with those words but they sounded so nice.

"Let's go inside," Will suggested, digging his keys out of his pockets. Ben right on his heels.

Will stumbled all the way to his door, barely fitting the key but managing to get it unlocked.

"I didn't say it last time but your place is nice," Ben said with a soft smile on his face.

Will nodded, leaning against his front door. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. But, with them squinted, there was something oddly familiar about Ben. About the shape of his shoulders, the cut of his hair. Almost like Will's seen Ben before. Not a memory, no. Something recent.

"I had fun with you today," Ben stated, standing a little bit closer than a second ago.

"Me too," Will tilted his head back, holding Ben's intense gaze.

Ben placed one hand on either side of Will's head, boxing him in.

"You really are beautiful," Ben murmured, breath dusting over Will's face, causing a surprisingly pleasant shiver.

Before Will could say anything, before he could even think, Ben kissed him.

Kissed like he needed it to breathe. It caused Will's knees to quake and his palms to sweat.

He didn't know if those were good things.

Will gripped the front of Ben's shirt. He didn't know if he wanted to push Ben away or pull him in closer. He compromised by doing nothing. Only opening his mouth and moaning long and deep when Ben's tongue touched his. Will bucked into Ben, hissing when Ben nipped his lower lip, sucking and nibbling.

Will could have stayed in his hallway, clinging and grinding into Ben. Kissing Ben with a sloppy finesse, mind a happy, drunken fog. Hands slipping and sliding over the deep ridges of Ben's stomach.

It wasn't until Ben dragged kisses across Will's cheek, all the way to his neck. Tongue licking and mouth sucking on Will's sensitive flesh. Only then did Will realize the gravity of the situation.

He was making out with Ben Weston. His lips tingled from Ben's teeth digging into them. His neck, wet and tender, must be covered in hickeys by now. Will bucked his hips, even now, against Ben's hard length.

Ben Weston, the man who almost strangled Will to death, twice.

"Wait," Will shoved Ben away. He clamped one hand over his burning neck. "We can't do this."

"Sure we can," Ben panted, an easy grin on his face. "That was so hot."

Will couldn't hold back another moan or tried too hard to push Ben away when he kissed him again.

Will clung to Ben's neck as Ben's fingertips dug into Will's hips.

Will knew this was a bad idea. A terrible idea he would never have made if he were sober. But, with Ben kissing him just so, it was really hard to remember why.

Will didn't jump away again until Ben pushed open the door. Walked them inside, hands scrambling to unbutton Will's jeans.

Will held his hands in front of him, chest heaving.

"This isn't a good idea," Will said.

It didn't matter how good looking Ben was, how well he kissed, Will couldn't do this with him. Even if he wanted to and a part of him really, really did.

But no.

"Drunk," Will whispered, stumbling a little off balance. "I think we're both a little drunk. We shouldn't do this."

"Of course we should," Ben urged arm wrapped around Will's waist to balance him. "This is for the best. It's what we should have done all along."

"You definitely have to be drunk," Will whispered, words a little slurred.

Last he checked, Ben wasn't even the slightest bit gay.

"Not that drunk," Ben insisted with a rueful smile. "But you're right. Our first time needs to be special. I'll make it special."

"…What?"

Ben shook his head at Will's blank expression, smile fond. He bent down and kissed Will once again. Hand firm against Will's cheek.

"We don't have to rush this," Ben assured, disregarding Will's rapidly panicked expression. "We aren't like anyone else."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Will whispered, blinking several times to clear his head.

Ben held Will's face between his hands.

"I'll keep you safe, Will. I promise. I won't let anyone ever hurt you again."

"Ben," Will tried to back up and stumbled over his own feet, Ben keeping him steady.

"I'm not gonna be like the others. They never earned you, never deserved you. But I will. I won't leave you the way Paul did. I won't treat you like Sonny does. I won't use you like Xander or take so long to see your worth like Brian."

Will's mouth opened and closed a few times as his eyes widened.

"How do you know about them?"

"I know everything about you, Will," Ben insisted, calm and steady. "I have to keep you safe. You know that. Now, why don't you get some rest? I think you are drunker than I realized."

Will stayed perfectly still as Ben pulled him into another kiss. He didn't move until the door closed after Ben. Will lurched toward it, locking the deadbolt.

Will grabbed a water bottle and a handful of aspirin, downing them both. He collapsed in bed, head swimming. Certain that after a nap, everything would make so much more sense. Because there was no way Ben Weston did or said any of the things he did.

Ben must have been as drunk as Will. It was the only reasonable explanation.

Yes, Will would get some rest and everything would make sense when he was sober again. Particularly the mystery of why Will got the strangest sense of déjà vu around Ben.

* * *

A/N

 **Trigger Warning** : Will, uneasy about being around Ben, gets very drunk. While drunk, Will makes out with Ben, something he indicates he wouldn't do if he was sober. Also, Ben says and does some creepy things that make Will uncomfortable and indicate he's been following Will.


	5. Chapter 5

**#5**

 ***Dubcon/heading more towards noncon. A small mention of past child abuse. See A/N below for specific details***

Will spent the evening and most of the next morning nursing a hangover. Certain the afternoon before was some kind of mix-up. Ben must have been much drunker than Will realized to ever kiss him or say such ridiculous things. Ben wasn't gay or ever indicated he liked men. Then again, neither had Xander and he enjoyed doing dirty, dirty things to Will.

But, Will decided he must have misinterpreted the situation. Must have missed something vital because there was no way in hell Ben Weston came onto him. No way had Ben Weston known who Will slept with and wanted to be one of those men.

The implications of that, the idea that Ben killed him but also wanted to sleep with him were too much for Will to take.

Will knew he wasn't the smartest guy in the world. Knew he made terrible choices in his past. Knew he would make terrible choices in his future too. But even he wasn't dumb enough to fool around with the man that tried to kill him, twice.

In another lifetime, yes. Ben was so many kinds of attractive, physically. But mentally the man was hideous. A little mental instability Will could deal with. Hell, he himself wasn't all there. But nothing would ever make Will want a serial killer. Especially when he could hook-up with Xander or Brian whenever he felt like it.

It was moments like this Will missed Paul the most. Missed his level-headed, protective boyfriend. Paul would know how to make this better. Would know what to say and do to correct the Ben situation. If there even was a Ben situation. He could have been as drunk as Will.

Maybe.

God, Will didn't know.

What would Paul do at a time like this?

The answer was so simple Will felt stupid for not thinking of it right away.

He'd call John.

* * *

"Wait," John frowned, sitting up straighter. "Ben Weston did what?"

"I-well-," Will shifted on Malena's couch, not able to get comfortable. "You know, my therapist thought it would be good if I didn't run away from him if I saw him. Only, I got too nervous. I didn't want to chicken out, 'cause my therapist is mean when I do disappointing things and-,"

"Focus, Will."

"Right, sorry. So, I had a lot to drink and I didn't think anything would happen. I mean, we were in a public place. There were loads of people around. Then he kept ordering me drinks and I was so nervous and they tasted so good. And we somehow ended up at my place and he said I was beautiful and he would never ever hurt me and he kissed me, a lot. I mean, he could have been as drunk as I was and this is all a misunderstanding."

"I don't believe that. You wouldn't be this freaked out if it was a misunderstanding. I trust your instincts on this one kid. Now, did he say anything else?" John urged, mouth set in a straight line.

"It's all a little fuzzy but he said he was gonna earn me and that Paul, Sonny, Xander, and Brian never deserved me."

"Xander? Brian?" John asked, eyes narrowing.

"I am single and can sleep with whoever I want," Will hastily insisted.

"That's not what I'm saying," John shook his head. "Will, I keep tabs on everyone I care about. You know that. But I didn't know you ever spent time with Xander. I don't even know anyone named Brian."

"I see Xander every now and again," Will shifted again. Nothing said awkward like explaining your hookups to your ex's father. "And I met up with Brian a few weeks ago. No one knows about them."

"So, how does Ben?"

Will stopped short.

"Think, Will," John urged. "Have you felt anything suspicious? Like someone was looking over your shoulder? Have you seen anyone follow you around?"

"I-well-no. I mean, sometimes Sonny follows me but that's not anything new. Although," Will stopped for a moment, thinking back. "I do remember seeing someone around, a man. I didn't get a good look at him but it could have been Ben."

"Was this guy around a lot?"

"Yeah, yeah," Will nodded. "Yeah, he was at the club I went to with Xander. And the bar I went to with Brian and the hospital too. I'm pretty sure he was standing in my hallway one night when I threw Sonny out."

"Okay, good," John said.

"Good?" Will huffed. "Ben freaking Weston is stalking me and you think it's good?"

"Will, calm down. You know that's not what I meant. Now, I don't want you to worry about this, alright. I'll take care of everything."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Will asked. "He was talking about sleeping with me!"

"Trust me," John promised, hands on Will's shoulders. "I know exactly what to do. What I should have done in the first place to prevent this.

"Now, why don't you call up Lucas and see if you can stay with him for a few days? Just until this blows over. I've got an important call to make myself."

* * *

Will kept himself occupied at his father's place. He didn't want to worry Lucas unnecessarily so he lied. Said he complained enough and his studio was getting a makeover and could he please, please stay with him.

It was fun, almost felt like old times. The more Will and Lucas talked, the more Will remembered. Little things mostly. The sensation he felt when Lucas would tuck him in at night as a child. How happy he felt playing high school baseball and seeing Lucas in the stands.

It hurt, but until this Ben situation resolved, Will kept his distance from Ari. He cherished each and every memory they made and every memory he regained. But he couldn't risk hurting her now, not ever.

So, Will kept up a stream of excuses to everyone about why he couldn't leave his dad's place. Hoping against hope John would figure something out soon.

Will trusted John, he did. But he couldn't put his entire life on hold for much longer. He didn't even know how to clear something like this up. What was John gonna do? Tell Ben to stay away? Try to out him? Threaten the mentally unstable serial killer?

Will was annoyed and getting cabin fever. He was also hungry.

 _Knock Knock Knock_

"Yes," Will said to himself, scrambling to the door.

Uber Eats, best invention ever.

"Come to me, sweet, beautiful French fries," Will mumbled, taking his food from the delivery guy.

"Damn," the guy said with a teasing smile. "Thought you were talking to me for a minute there."

The man left with a wink and a cheesy smile.

Why Will had no confidence before, he couldn't figure out.

As Will stuffed his face, John called.

"What's up?" Will asked around a mouthful of food.

"Checking on you, kid," John replied.

Will coughed when a fry went down the wrong way.

"You okay?" John asked once Will calmed down.

"Forgot how to eat," Will answered, rubbing his throat.

"Chew your food, young man," John said, half serious and half joking.

"But the fries at the pub are so good," Will whined.

"Did you go to the pub?" John asked, no longer joking around.

"No, I had it delivered."

"Kid, don't go answering the door for anyone. You hear me? It's too dangerous right now, especially at night."

"You don't know that. It's not like we even know for sure Ben's done anything to me."

"Just do me a favor, until I do find anything out, no answering the door."

"Fine, whatever. When do you think I can get out of here anyway?"

"Will, it's been less than a day."

"I can't stay here forever, though. And you haven't even told me what you're investigating."

"I've got it handled. Don't worry and stay put. Alright?"

"Yeah, right," Will rolled his eyes. "What else have I got to do?"

* * *

On his second night stuck in Lucas' apartment, Will grew melancholy.

It felt like ages since Paul left when, in reality, it was only a few short months. Months spent with Will remembering his past while he tried to find his place in the present. Months spent bemoaning Paul's existence and wishing he'd come back. Months spent experimenting and fooling around with men he never imagined. Hiding out from potential stalkers who already once did Will bodily harm.

All of which brought him to this point. Sitting on his father's couch at nine o'clock at night with a tub of rocky road in his lap and Tokyo Fab videos playing on the smart TV.

In other words, Will was pathetic.

"You know," Lucas sighed, turning the TV off and ignoring Will's grumble. "There are other guys out there. If you don't want to date Sonny now that Paul's gone, you could find someone else."

Lucas didn't help.

"I have, Dad," Will said around a mouthful of chocolatey goodness. "Sort of why I'm in this mess."

"What?" Lucas quirked his head.

"What? What?" Will almost forgot he hadn't told Lucas the real reason he needed to stay over. "I'm just saying, let me wallow. I can miss Paul if I want."

"I will never understand this Paul thing," Lucas plopped next to Will on the couch. "Especially now that your past is coming back to you. I know you remember things the two of you experienced before. How can you still want him?"

"Sure, we might have met under bad circumstances," Will relented. "But things change. When I still had amnesia, Paul was the only one I felt a connection to. And now I understand why. There was something between me and Paul even way back when we first met. He felt it. I felt it. Things got messed up but that's fine. What we created when we got together, it's special. And I don't want to let it go yet, even if Paul did."

"Alright," Lucas said. "I just don't like seeing you like this."

 _Knock Knock Knock_

"Now, who could that be?" Lucas questioned, pushing himself up.

Will, distracted by his ice cream, took longer to remember then he should have.

John said not to open the door to anyone, especially at night.

"Wait, don't!" Will yelled as Lucas opened the door.

Lucas, head turned back towards Will with a frown, never saw the hit coming.

Ben, face eerily calm, punched Lucas in the temple. When he dropped to the floor, Ben simply stepped over him, nudged his feet inside, and closed the door.

"There you are," Ben's face spread into a wide grin when he caught sight of Will.

Will froze, spoon halfway to his mouth and steadily dripping back into the carton.

"Oh, God. Dad?"

"Don't worry," Ben said as he flicked the deadbolt on the door. "He's still breathing."

Will dropped the spoon and the carton when Ben stepped closer toward him.

"You've been hard to find," Ben mused, hands shoved in the back of his jeans. "I had to look everywhere."

"Wh-wha-what are you doing here?" Will stuttered.

"I told you before, Will," Ben said, laid-back and practical. "I have to protect you now. Make sure no one else hurts you. Besides, we still need to go on our second date."

Will stood up nice and slow, ice cream tumbling to a mess on the ground. He regretted wandering around the apartment shirtless when Ben's eyes wandered along his bare skin.

"When did we go on a first date?" Will stalled, trying to think of how to handle this.

"The other day, silly. So," Ben rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "What are you doing here anyway? Why aren't you at home?"

"M-memories," Will said the first thing that popped into his head. "Too many memories there."

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "It must suck having so many memories with Paul and knowing he's not coming back."

"He could," Will said without even thinking.

Ben's brows furrowed, jaw tense.

"He won't. I kept him busy."

"What?" Will's heart stuttered.

Ben shrugged, giving Will his best grin.

"Someone had to send him on a wild goose chase."

"You? But he took a job. Someone needed him to go undercover and-,"

"Yeah, he'll be gone for a long time. I sent him off to look for someone that doesn't exist."

"But," Will couldn't wrap his head around it. "Why?"

"I needed him out of the way."

Will didn't know what to think, what to do.

He did always find it suspicious, just as times got tough, an opportunity for Paul to escape appeared. And Ben planned it all. Planned to get Paul out of the way. But why?

Will didn't know when Ben got closer but soon enough he was only a few inches away.

"Paul was gonna hurt you. I couldn't let that happen."

Ben cupped Will's face, a soft expression on his face.

"You aren't even gay," Will said as he withheld a shudder.

"No, not exclusively. I always felt an attraction to guys. My father would beat those thoughts away, though. Besides, I've had a lot of time to think, especially after what Sami made me do. And I realized I've regretted a lot of things but hurting you the most. I promised myself I would make it up to you. Make sure no one ever hurt you the way I did ever again. And there's only one way to do that."

Will was too scared to even ask. Ben answered anyway.

"I have to be the one to make you happy myself. No matter what it takes."

Will threw his hands up, bracing himself against Ben's chest when two strong arms yanked him into a firm embrace.

"Now, there's nothing standing in our way," Ben said, resting the side of his face on the top of Will's head. "I can protect you, always. The reason I always thought you were so different than the others I hurt is that I'm so attracted to you."

"Oh, god," Will couldn't stand it anymore.

He shoved and shoved but Ben wouldn't budge. He didn't even act like he felt Will moving against him at all.

Instinct taking over, Will kicked his bare foot into Ben's crotch with all his might.

With Ben hissing in pain, Will grabbed his phone off the couch and stumbled toward his prone father.

"Dad?" Will nudged his shoulder while he dialed 911.

Before he could push the green dial button, Ben knocked into his side. The phone skittered across the floor, landing a good three feet away.

"Why did you do that?" Ben screamed. He shoved Will into the floor, fingers digging into Will's bare shoulders.

Will kicked and spit, clawing at Ben's forearms, screaming as loud as he could for help.

Ben's face contorted in pure rage. Will didn't have any time to brace for Ben's fist slamming into his face, knocking his head clear to the side.

Winded, it took a few seconds for the pain to erupt in Will's face.

"Oh, oh, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry."

Ben babbled, touching Will's cheek, yanking him into a tight hug.

"No, no, I'll never hurt you. I'll never hurt you."

Will, face throbbing, knew he wasn't going to win in a fist fight. He had to think of something to get out of this situation. He'd find a way out of this.

He let Ben rearrange him onto the edge of the coffee table. Let him run his hands over his rapidly bruising face. Tried to hold in his rage and disgust and utter terror.

"I'm sorry," Ben pleaded over and over. Even brushing his lips over the reddened skin. "I'm so sorry. You know I'll never hurt you. I got upset. That's all. You can't do things like that anymore, Will. You can't fight this, me. You have to do what I say. I know what's best for you. I know what's best. I know what's best."

Ben repeated the words over and over as Will's lips trembled and eyes watered. He tried to think of something to say, something he could do that would get him out of this.

He couldn't do it.

There was only one thing on his mind. And because he was an idiot, he said it.

"I want Paul."

Ben tensed, hand curling along the base of Will's skull.

Will whimpered.

"Don't ever say that again," Ben ordered through clenched teeth. "You don't need anyone but me."

Will nodded when Ben squeezed his hand and barked, "Right?"

"I'm sorry," Will whispered, hating how weak and pathetic he sounded. But there wasn't anything else he could do. He had to keep Ben placated for the time being.

"No, no, hey, shh, shh, It's okay," Ben promised, smoothing the back of his hand over Will's unblemished cheek. "No, don't cry. I'm sorry. I won't yell. You just make me so crazy. Ha, crazy? Get it?"

Will didn't even realize he started crying. Now, he couldn't stop.

His emotions were all over the place.

"Don't cry. Don't cry," Ben pleaded. "Hey, hey, let's get out of here, huh? Go on our date. I've got a surprise for you. We can go far away and no one will find us. Not your dad, not Marlena, not your bitch of a mother, and especially not Paul. We won't have to worry ever again."

Will cried even harder.

Ben pulled Will off the coffee table, herding him toward the door. He didn't even pause when Will stumbled over Lucas' body.

Ben stopped in front of the door to pull Will against him in a tight hug.

"Soon we won't have to worry about anything. It'll just be you and me and I'll give you anything you ever want. Whenever you want. Anything. I promise."

Will swallowed down a sob when Ben kissed him.

Ben angling his face to deepen the kiss was what saved Will in the end. That little moment of distraction while Will blindly searched for the deadbolt behind him.

Will groaned, as loud and as over the top as possible to cover the sound of the lock turning. He let Ben press him up against the door. Let Ben run his hands over Will's smooth, naked skin. Did whatever was necessary to keep Ben unawares.

The moment Ben surfaced for air, Will burst into action. Ripping the door open, skittering down the hallway, screaming as loud as he could. Hoping for someone, anyone to open a door and investigate.

Just before Will reached the end of the hallway, Ben tackled him from behind.

Before Ben could do anything, Will erupted in a fit of rage. One moment he was a weepy mess and the next, Will attacked with a savagery he didn't know he possessed.

He didn't get his memories back, didn't get this far, work this hard so Ben could take it all away again.

In a matter of moments, Will got the upper hand. He didn't think about it, didn't second guess himself. He reacted. Throwing punches and elbows, slamming Ben into the hallway wall. Somehow knocking Ben into the ground, holding one of Ben's arms around his back.

As Ben screamed out in pain and Will yelled nonsensical threats, the elevator door opened with a loud ding.

Neither noticed.

Someone heaved Will away from Ben with firm but gentle hands. Will struggled for a few moments before moving away until his back hit the wall behind him. It took a few moments to process what he was seeing.

"Paul?" Will whispered in disbelief.

After months of wishing, there he was. Paul Narita's perfect, perfect fists slamming into a struggling Ben Weston's stupid, stupid head.

Will watched as someone helped Paul slap some handcuffs on Ben, holding him down.

"Will," John said, the other person with Paul.

Will was so out of it he didn't even realize John was there.

"Come on," John urged. "The police were right behind us."

"My dad," Will said, pointing toward the open door.

"An ambulance too," John promised. "We weren't taking any chances."

The police burst through the stairwell door. Several officers pointed weapons at the still struggling Ben and Paul.

It took several minutes to get everything situated. Dragging a bucking, screaming Ben away. Loading Lucas onto a gurney, rushing him down the elevator. For Paul to report to one officer while Will talked to another.

It felt like forever before Will and Paul were alone, face-to-face, at last. Mere steps from where Lucas once lay inside his own apartment.

Will fiddled with the scratchy gray blanket someone draped over his bare shoulders. Now that Paul was right in front of him, he didn't know what to do.

Will didn't react, didn't even blink until Paul let out one choked whisper.

"Will."

Keening like a wounded animal, Will threw himself at Paul. The blanket slipped to the ground as Will finally, finally was back in Paul's arms.

Where he belonged.

The two clung to each other for so long, minutes, hours, it didn't matter.

"God, Will," Paul said, voice muffled through Will's hair.

He held firm to Will's biceps and pushed him just the slightest bit away. Far enough for his eyes to roam Will's body. To see the myriad of scratches, bumps, and bruises on his skin.

Will's eyes watered when Paul brushed his fingertips over Will's bruised cheek.

"I should have been here sooner," Paul stated, shaking his head and pulling Will close again. "I should have been here."

Paul didn't say anything when the tears fell from Will's eyes.

Will appreciated it. He couldn't bear it if he heard Paul say any of the same promises Ben did.

Once Will's hitching breaths tapered off and he wiped at his wet face, did they speak again.

"I knew something wasn't right when that maniac visited you. I knew it. But god, how could this have happened?"

Will's glare wasn't quite as ferocious as he would have liked, with the sniffing and the puffy eyes. The emotions were still there.

"This happened because you're a stupid idiot!"

"What?" Paul stared at Will incredulously. "How is this my fault?"

"You left me here! After you promised I wouldn't lose you. You left me. You watched me take an incredibly dangerous substance and peaced off on an impossible quest from a nutjub. None of this would have happened if you were here."

Paul watched Will work himself into a full-blown Sami Brady-proportioned tantrum.

"I didn't want you to leave. I never wanted you to leave. I told you a hundred times I needed you with me. Not Sonny, not anyone else, you. And you left anyway. How in the hell would anything I felt in the past compare to how I feel for you, you big, dumb idiot?

"You didn't even ask my opinion. You wouldn't even talk to me about it. You decided. You decided to abandon me here just like Sonny did before. Because I remember that! And now I get to remember you doing it too.

"Oh, god. You both left me here for Ben Weston to…god."

Will took a few seconds, face contorting. His whole body shivered before he shook his head, glaring at Paul again.

"You don't get to do that. You don't get to make decisions for me. You don't get to decide what's best. And especially when what you think is best is stupid!

"I don't remember everything but I know no one's ever treated me the way you did. No one ever listened the way you did. No one ever trusted the way you did. But, in the end, you were just like everyone else."

Will crossed his arms as he finally looked away from Paul. The truth of it hitting him.

All the reasons Will shied away from Sonny, all the old feelings, the insecurity, the mistrust, the resentment, Will and Paul had them now too.

"I wanted to be a complete person and you left me. Me, the real, whole me, wasn't what you wanted," Will whispered, brushing away a few errant tears. "I love you and you left me.

"You were supposed to be different."

Will trailed off, head downturned, shaking his head back and forth.

He spent all these months thinking Paul loved him. Thinking Paul selflessly and stupidly stepped aside so as not to impede Will's happiness. Will never once considered a different possibility.

That Paul wouldn't want Will if he had his memories back.

"I am different," Paul said, almost startling Will.

Paul stepped closer to Will, hands hovering over Will's trembling shoulders.

"Will," Paul stopped and started a few times, licking his lips. "I am different. I-I had to leave. Okay? I couldn't stand seeing you with Sonny. I couldn't. I couldn't take it. Watching you with someone else, especially him, it would kill me."

"I never wanted Sonny," Will insisted. "I told you over and over and you didn't believe me."

"How could I? You don't know what it was like before. You don't, memories or not. Watching you and Sonny when you were married. How could I compete with that?"

"Oh, yeah," Will rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it was all rainbows and sunshine. Did you ever even see a happy moment between us? Because from what I remember you and Sonny spent the whole time I was around making heart eyes at each other. But you don't see me throwing accusations around. Because I trust you. Because I know you can't take back your past. Because I know you and I were each other's futures. Or, at least, I did."

"I would never be able to live with myself if I was holding you back," Paul said, face flushed. "It would hover over my head for the rest of my life. At least, if I wasn't here to see it, I knew you and Sonny could have a chance."

"I never wanted a chance with Sonny," Will threw his arms up.

"He wanted one with you!" Paul yelled, finally losing his patented cool. "He wanted you, Will. I already took his husband once. I couldn't steal you again when you finally knew what he meant to you."

"I'm not a possession. I'm not a thing you and Sonny can lob back and forth. You didn't steal me. I wasn't his to give or take or steal."

"That isn't what I meant."

"Yes, it is. You and your ridiculous good-guy persona. Your need to make everyone around you happy at your own expense. It is really inconvenient when you forget I'm a person too."

"I - that isn't even - of course, I know you're a person."

"No, I don't think you do. Because you and Sonny and your rivalry or unresolved emotions, or what, was more important than me. Neither of you cared what I thought or what I wanted. He didn't care I don't want him and neither did you. Both of you decided Sonny was what's best and never even once considered how I would feel about the situation. Well, I'm telling you. It fucking sucks!"

"Will, I-,"

"No! I am not listening to you say how everyone else's feelings were more important than yours or mine, for that matter. Tell me what you want. Okay, tell me. If it's me or if you don't want the complete Will Horton package. If you only wanted me when I had amnesia and you leaving was an excuse to get away. Okay, tell me. No, no more putting other people first. Alright, you, your opinion, without thinking about anyone else. What do you want?"

It didn't take Paul more than a second to answer.

"You," Paul let out a sad chuckle. "I want you, Will."

"But-why did-?"

"I was," Paul's lips quirked up in a sad imitation of a smile, "How did you put it? A stupid idiot. I got it in my head that there was no way you would ever pick me if you had a choice. As soon as we learned about the serum all I could think about is how you and I used to be. You know, before. How cruel we were to each other. I didn't want that. I couldn't stomach that. You wanted Sonny so much back then and it would kill me if I had to see it again."

"I also cheated on Sonny then," Will pointed out. "With you. And I haven't been married to Sonny in months."

"No," Paul's smile slid into something a little more real. "No, I guess you haven't."

"I know Sonny and I have a past. But you have one with Sonny too. You almost married him. When I came back to Salem you still wanted to. And I don't hold that against you. I don't-I don't blame you for being with someone before me."

"I don't blame you," Paul tried to explain. "I just-I'm so terrified I'm gonna get left behind again. And you leaving me especially would kill me. But, you're right. We're different."

"I know," Will agreed. "My point is I don't remember everything yet. Maybe I never will. But I feel like those little parts of me that were blank before, have something filling them in. And what I do remember about Sonny were nice and sweet, in the beginning. But the last year or so before I died, or didn't die, was awful. And I think it's because of you."

"Hey," Paul frowned.

"No, no, not like that. It's not your fault. Well, maybe a little bit. But, that's not what I'm trying, and failing, to say. What I mean is, I don't remember everything about you and me, our history. But I remember a lot. I remember hotel rooms and the two of us sharing stories. And I remember being with you when you came out to your family. Oh god, what's your mom and grandpa gonna think of me now?"

Will trailed off, mouth open in horror.

"Will?"

"Right," Will shook his head. "Focus. Look, what I'm saying is when I saw you for the first time, again, you were the only one I felt something for. And I felt that same thing before. At the Salem Inn, when we met, originally. There was something. Married to Sonny or not, even with the mess that happened afterward. There was something between you and me. There always was."

Will held out his hand, palm up.

Paul slid their fingers together, a near perfect fit.

"Paul," Will took a deep breath and let it out in a puff of hair. "I don't want to be with Sonny. I don't want to be with anyone else. I want to be with you."

"I want that too," Paul whispered, a grin threatening to take over his face.

"No more stupid decisions?" Will questioned.

"I promise," Paul said. "I'll only make stupid decisions with you from now on."

Will let out a bark of laughter and fell into Paul's open arms.

"I can't believe I almost let this slip away," Paul said, holding Will safe and close in his arms again.

Will, eyes closed, head in that perfect crook between Paul's neck and shoulder, sighed.

"I'll start doing a better job making sure you know how much I love you," Will replied. "Because I do, Paul."

"I love you too," Paul said. "And I won't leave you again. I promise."

Will tangled his fingers in Paul's hair and winced. His knuckles were scraped and bloody. The pain in his face erupted now that his adrenaline tapered off.

"As much as I wanna stay in your arms forever, I think I need to go to the hospital."

* * *

A/N

 **Trigger warning:** Will fights Ben off when he tries to hold him which results in Will getting punched in the face. Afterward, with Will crying, Ben kisses him. Will plays along to distract Ben in order to get away. Also, Ben mentions his father abusing him for finding men attractive and indicates he's obsessed and stalking Will to protect him from imagined harm.


	6. Chapter 6

**\+ The only one that mattered**

 ***Trigger warning: mentions past dubcon. See A/N for details***

* * *

"At what point is this thing gonna get named after me?" Will asked with a strained smile.

He popped off the table and away from the CT scan machine, ready for this whole thing to be over. He wanted to get back to his father's bedside and back to Paul. But, of course, one of the doctors on shift this late at night just had to be a part of the group who studied Will.

Now, Will endured test after test. He had his knuckles covered in liquid Band-aids. Had more blood drawn than he felt necessary. Went through X-rays and CT Scans and MRI's.

He was beyond done.

Will walked down a familiar hallway back toward a familiar room, exhausted. The only bright spot at the end of his literal and metaphorical tunnel was an anxious-looking Paul loitering in the waiting room.

As Will opened his mouth to call out to Paul, two large hands pulled Will around into a warm hug.

It was Brian.

"What the hell?" Brian asked. "You disappear for a few days and this is what happens?"

"Yeah, I'm talented like that," Will said with a slight huff. He squeezed Brian back before stepping away.

"We're gonna hire a bodyguard for you," Brian threatened. He pushed Will's head this way and that, appraising the damage. "Get someone to take care of you 24/7."

"He's already got one," Paul interrupted.

He put his arm around Will's waist and gave the fakest smile Will'd ever seen.

Brian raised one brow and gave Will a quizzical look.

"Oh, right, um, Brian, Paul. Paul, Brian."

"Paul?" Brian asked, shaking his hand. He sighed, lips pressed together. "Right. That's how it is."

"How what is?" Paul looked between Will and Brian.

"So, Doc, any chance I can get out of here?" Will ignored Paul.

"Soon," Brian said with a sigh. "You can go sit with your dad while we wait for the test results."

"Thanks," Will nodded. He gave Brian a small smile. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah," Brian confirmed. He went to walk away before turning around again. "You freaked me out, Horton. Don't do that again."

"Occupational hazard, I'm afraid. But thanks."

Paul waited until Brian walked away before asking, "What was that all about?"

"I'll tell you later," Will evaded. "Let's check on my dad."

* * *

By the time Will and Paul made it back to Will's apartment, the sun had already risen. They spent a few more hours in the hospital. They sat at Lucas' bedside until he was given a clean bill of health. Dealt with well-wishers and concerned family and friends.

They were exhausted.

Without needing to say a word, Will and Paul began their former bedtime routine. Brushing their teeth side by side in the mirror. Passing the bottle of mouthwash between them, taking turns gargling and spitting. Paul pretending not to notice when Will used his much more expensive face wash and moisturizer. Only leaving each other's side to take turns with the toilet while the other changed.

With barely more than a few words, the two stumbled, half-asleep into bed. Paul holding his left arm up, Will snuggling into his side.

Both slept better than they had in months.

They didn't wake for hours and when they did it took a long while to get out of bed. Neither wanted to let the other go.

Only nature, and their stomachs, calling got them to move. They ate a strange combination of all the things Will had left in his refrigerator, two mushy bananas, half a container of yogurt, and week-old garlic knots.

Once they finished eating, Paul insisted Will hold a package of frozen corn to his face.

"Ow," Will hissed when the white package touched his already black and blue cheek.

Paul shook his head, face scrunched in concern.

"When I left I didn't know something like this could happen. I didn't even consider it."

"Wasn't near the top of my to-do list," Will muttered.

"You know I would do anything to protect you, Will."

"I do," Will smiled at Paul.

The two stood at the foot of Will's bed when Paul grabbed Will's hand.

"My dad didn't give me all the details when he called. Only that you were in trouble and you needed me."

"He didn't?" Will asked.

"No," Paul licked his lips. "He didn't have to say anything else to get me to come. When he picked me up from the airport he mentioned Ben. When I saw you in the hallway I didn't even think. I just-I had to get him away from you. So, what was going on while I was gone?"

"I didn't even know until a few days ago but apparently Ben was stalking me," Will said.

"You didn't know someone was following you?" Paul crossed his arms and gave Will a rather stern look.

"Okay, I know, Mr. Big Bad PI. I was a little busy worrying about Sonny stalking me to notice anyone else. Anyway," Will said before Paul could interrupt, "I kept seeing someone everywhere I went. Not in an obvious sort of way. You know, a guy at the end of the hallway. Someone sitting near my table at a bar. Walking by someone at a club or the hospital. I never got a good look so I never even thought about it. Until Ben said something the other day."

"What did he say?" Paul demanded.

"He mentioned - uh - well he mentioned people he saw me around with and I thought it was super creepy. Actually, everything he did was super creepy. So, I thought about what you would do and it was obvious."

"Tell my dad," Paul said at the same time Will said, "Tell John."

The two shared a smile and a little laugh.

"Here," Paul tossed the bag of corn to the side and pulled Will into a hug. "I'm so glad a few hits were all that happened to you. That you didn't get hurt any worse."

"I wouldn't say that's all he did," Will mumbled, arms wrapped around Paul's neck.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be hard to not look over your shoulder for a while," Paul agreed. "Worrying if someone's following you around."

"Wasn't exactly what I meant," Will confessed. Only then realizing Paul, and the police for that matter didn't know about the full extent of what Ben told Will.

"What did you mean?" Paul

"Ben said a lot of crazy things, you know, before I tried to run away," Will said with a swallow. "A lot of crazy, creepy things."

"What did he tell you?" Paul rubbed up and down Will's spine, soothing himself and Will.

"He said he did a lot of thinking while locked up, about me. A lot of it had to do with him not planning to kill me. Like somehow that makes it better. Or worse. I don't know. Anyway, he said he wanted to make it up to me. That he was gonna keep me safe and make sure no one ever hurt me again. That he'd do anything to make me happy, _anything_."

"Wait," Paul took a step back, hands grasping Will's face. Eyes flittering around, eyeing a few errant marks on Will's neck he didn't pay much attention to before. "Did that son of a bitch touch you?"

"No," Will said, holding onto Paul's forearms. "No, no, no, no, of course not. Well…"

"Will!" Paul half-shouted, half-whispered.

"He didn't touch me, touch me. There were only a few unwanted kisses. But nothing else, nothing worse, like you said."

"Nothing worse," Paul muttered. "I meant like a broken bone or him strangling you again. Nothing worse! He tried to-he could have-this is the very definition of something worse."

"But I'm fine," Will squeezed Paul's arms. "He freaked the hell out of me and I'll have a few nightmares. But I'm fine. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay. This is not okay," Paul turned toward the door, dead serious. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Paul," Will reached out and snagged his arm, pulling him back to face each other. "No, you're not. It's fine. It's over."

"It is so not fine," Paul insisted, face reddening with anger. "I shouldn't have stopped hitting him when the police got there. I should have killed him."

"Stop it," Will soothed, running his hands up and down Paul's arms and over his neck.

"No, we're going to the station and the minute I see him I'm gonna-,"

"Paul," Will said, forcing him to look Will in the eye. "Stop it."

"You have to tell someone. You have to tell the police. This is so much worse than stalking. Okay? He could have-,"

"But he didn't," Will interrupted. "I'll let the police know what he said but he didn't do whatever you're thinking. Okay, he didn't."

Paul held Will's gaze for a minute and sighed with a nod. Will wasn't ready to face what Ben did or didn't do, not today, not yet.

"Alright," Paul squeezed Will back against him. He pressed his nose to Will's hair. "Promise me you'll talk to the police about it. We can't let him get away with this. Because I swear, Will, if they don't put him in jail, if I see him walking around-,"

"I said I would," Will curled his arms around Paul's neck. "And I'm fine, okay? It wasn't much worse than anything else I've dealt with since you left."

Paul, nuzzling the side of Will's head, snapped his eyes open.

"What does that mean?"

Will scrunched his face together in annoyance. He mouthed the words, 'stupid, stupid,' at himself.

"You're gonna take this the wrong way," Will said.

"Take what the wrong way?" Paul asked. When Will didn't say anything right away, he prodded, "Will?"

"A short while after you left, I was alone and Sonny came over and…"

"…And what?"

"And he was talking about all these half-remembered events and you had just left and I was so mad and sad. I started remembering what he was talking about and you know how I get when that happens, right? Sort of there but not there."

Paul tensed, hold on Will a little bit too tight.

"I mean, I knew what was happening, but I didn't really know what was going on. And when I realized it, I was in my underwear and so was Sonny. I started thinking about you and I couldn't go through with it."

It took Paul a good few seconds to say anything.

"What happened next?"

"Well, I told Sonny I didn't want him and he got mad. So, I got mad and kicked him out. And I didn't want him. It didn't feel right and I couldn't go through with it."

Paul nodded, still holding Will in a tight squeeze.

"Are you angry?" Will asked in a small voice. "Because you told me to be with Sonny."

"Yes, I'm angry," Paul said in a loud voice, making Will jump. "But not at you. I left and you had every right to be with anyone you wanted. But I am so furious at Sonny."

"Oh," Will let out a sigh of relief. "Wait, why?"

"Why? Will, he tried to take advantage of you when you were at your most vulnerable."

"I didn't tell him to stop right away," Will mumbled.

"You didn't give him permission either," Paul insisted. "And he had no right to get upset you told him to stop at all."

"But he did stop and nothing happened. Well, nothing except cementing the fact that I don't want to be with Sonny."

"There's the silver lining," Paul said with a shake of his head. "Now, please, tell me that's all the drama you dealt with. Because I don't know if I can handle much more."

"Well," Will squirmed against Paul, voice getting a little too high-pitched at the end.

"Oh, god, what else?" Paul demanded with a low groan.

"I don't wanna tell you until you answer something first."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want."

"When you were away, were you with anyone else?" Will asked. He wasn't too sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"I didn't exactly have time for anyone else where I was. All I focused on was work. And, I couldn't get you out of my mind," Paul confessed. "So, no. No one else."

Will winced. Not that it didn't thrill him to hear Paul wasn't with anyone but it would make everything else all the more difficult.

"What?" Paul asked, warm hands spread across Will's back. "Don't believe me?"

"No, I do," Will sighed. "You're not gonna like what I say next, though."

Paul held onto Will's biceps, pushing far enough away to see Will's face.

"What does that mean?"

"I-well-um-," Will stalled while he thought of a nice way to put everything. "You left and I was less than thrilled."

"And?" Paul lifted one brow, face stern.

"You told me to find the man I wanted to be with. So, I did. Find men, that is. Men that I wanted - um - physically."

"Men? As in plural? As in more than one?"

"Yes," Will answered with a nod completely unashamed of his exploits while single.

Paul didn't say anything for several long, awkward moments. Eventually, he sighed and pulled Will back into a hug.

"Okay, thank you for telling me."

"That's it?" Will wondered.

"I left you so you could find someone else. Would be hypocritical of me to get angry that you did."

"Right," Will nodded. "But, so you know, it was only sex. I made that distinction clear to them every time it happened. And I was safe and everything. All those million blood tests at the hospital proved it."

"Good," Paul nodded, trying to keep his cool. He did understand Will could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted with his own body. Paul just didn't have to like it.

Then Paul remembered how they stumbled onto this subject.

"Why are you telling me this?" Paul asked.

"I don't want there to be any secrets between us," Will said. He waited a beat. "I slept with someone you know and he'll most likely reveal it in a very public, humiliating situation. Well, not humiliating for me. I'm gonna feel pretty smug about it actually. But, you know, others will be humiliated and I don't want one of them to be you."

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Paul asked, eyes closed, face tilted toward the ceiling.

"No, not at all," Will answered with a smile at Paul's exasperated face. "But, as I said before, it was only sex, if that. And when I said men I meant two to four guys depending on how you look at it."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I kissed four guys. Well, I kissed two guys. The others kissed me and my involvement wasn't really necessary."

"Will?" Paul barked, holding Will out at arms-length again.

"No, hey, that sounded bad. And it was bad. Lots of, you know, dubious consent happening. But I already told you about Sonny and the times with Ben, so you know that part."

"Times?" Paul asked. "Times as in plural? As in more than one time?"

"Uh," Will frowned. "I didn't mention that earlier?"

"No," Paul huffed.

"The thing last night, was, you know, horrifying. But before that, when I figured out Ben was stalking me. He was a little drunk and I was a lot more drunk. And, you know, I made out with him a little or a lot. Which I wouldn't have done if I was sober, probably."

Paul mumbled something under his breath. Something that sounded remarkably like, "I am never leaving you alone again."

"Anyway," Will cleared his throat, squeezing Paul's shoulders with a strained smile. "The main take away from this is there were four guys. I slept with two of them which was completely my choice. And I had fun with them. Doing what I want whenever I want was fun. But they weren't you."

Will gave Paul a small smile. Paul didn't react at all, only stared at Will with a blank face.

"Neither of them make me feel the way you do. I don't think anyone can. And hey," Will nudged Paul with his elbow. "I might have slept with them but my feelings for you never changed."

Paul's lips twitched, a smile threatening to take over.

"You're sure? You don't want to keep up your single and ready to mingle lifestyle?" Paul asked, half serious.

"Paul, I'm never going to choose anyone over you, ever. I would never have been single in the first place if you didn't leave."

Paul's eyes slid over Will's face.

"And you're okay, physically, emotionally? Do you need an emergency session with your therapist or anything?"

"One-hundred percent okay," Will insisted. "Okay, well eighty percent. Seventy-five and I want a new therapist."

"Why?"

"She encouraged me to go on, what turned out to be, a date with Ben."

"What?"

"She's crazy. Ben's crazy. Look, the point is, I sowed my wild oats or whatever the saying is. And, while fun, it's not what I want especially when I can have you."

"Okay," Paul said in that tone of voice Will knew meant they would talk more about this later. "If you're sure about everything."

"Of course," Will insisted with an easy grin. "I'm just gonna need you to feed my newly discovered exhibitionist kink every now and again."

"Oh, is that so?" Paul smirked. "That's what you learned while I was away?"

"Yep," Will nodded. "Also, is there a term for getting off on sleeping with someone you know will piss another person off?"

Paul gave Will a blank look.

"Not you," Will added. "But Sonny's gonna be really mad at me, even more than usual if he finds out. And it didn't deter me in the slightest from sleeping with them."

"I don't know if I even wanna know," Paul said after staring at Will incredulously.

"You said to go after a Kiriakis," Will shrugged. "I interpreted that loosely."

"Please, dear god, tell me it wasn't my brother."

"Ew," Will shuddered, smacking Paul's chest. "Don't be gross."

Paul mockingly sighed in relief, enjoying Will's display of disgust.

His smile dropped real quick at Will's next words.

"It was Xander."

"Will!" Paul yelled out, jaw dropped open.

"Don't tell me you never thought about it," Will said, holding his hands up in mock innocence. "He might not be the greatest guy in the world but you should be thanking him. I learned a lot of things from him you'll benefit from."

Paul teasingly smacked Will's stomach, trying and failing to stay upset.

"You're terrible," Paul shook his head. "And Sonny is gonna kill you and Xander."

"Yeah, I've seen the two of them argue," Will shrugged. "I don't think anyone has to worry about facing Sonny in a fight."

"I can't believe you slept with his cousin. You're the actual worst."

"I haven't even told you who the other one is yet," Will said with a laugh. "That one might put Sonny over the edge."

"Dare I ask?"

"So, you know the doctor from earlier? Brian?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "I knew it."

"Oh, shut up. Anyway, I knew him from a long time ago. Sonny and I both did."

"Wait, that name sounds familiar? Isn't that the guy who-?"

"Yep," Will said with a wide, proud grin.

"The worst," Paul laughed while pulling Will into a tight hug. "You are the actual worst."

Will shrugged, enjoying the smile on Paul's face.

"It's not like I set out to sleep with either of them," Will said. "It just happened. The fact that it would irritate Sonny is a coincidence, honest."

"Now, I know why you went after me," Paul teased. "You just wanted to piss Sonny off."

"Which time?" Will asked with an impish grin. "When I came back to Salem and kissed you every chance I got? Or when we spent hours locked in a hotel room?"

"Take your pick," Paul settled Will against him, hands resting on the curve of his spine.

"You know," Will played with the hair on the back of Paul's neck, "I don't think I seduced you at all the first time, in the hotel room. Despite what you and everyone else told me. From what I remember, you were the one pushing for me."

"Maybe," Paul admitted with a grin. "But, who's going to do the seducing now?"

"I think we're way past that," Will whispered before their lips met in their first kiss since Paul walked away all those months ago.

Will moaned, fingers gripping Paul's neck, pulling him closer.

This was what was missing with all the other men. As attractive and engaging as they were, none of them made Will feel so much in such a simple kiss.

Paul traced his tongue along the seam of Will's lips, groaning when their tongues touched.

They nearly tripped wriggling out of their clothes, falling to the bed in a tangle of limbs and tongues.

"Missed you," Paul panted against the hollow of Will's throat, slurping and kissing all along the sensitive skin. Needing to replace Ben's marks with his. "I missed you so much."

"Paul," Will praised, arching off the bed when his teeth dragged against one nipple. "Want you, want you so much."

Before Will knew it, he was flipped on his stomach as Paul dug around for a well-used bottle of lube.

The next few minutes Paul spent murmuring praise against the back of Will's neck. Will screeched and shuddered as Paul's wet fingers slid inside him, opening and stretching.

"Come on, baby," Paul urged, guiding Will atop his thighs, his front to Will's back.

Will, head thrown back against Paul's, moaned and panted, thigh muscles burning as he rode up and down Paul's perfect, thick cock.

Will, mouth wide open and gasping for air, clutched Paul's thick thighs for purchase, almost screaming Paul's name when he took Will in hand.

Paul gave Will a few lazy strokes before rearranging them on the bed. Needing to see Will's beautiful, red, splotchy face.

Will wrapped his legs around Paul's waist, easing back onto Paul's cock.

The two picked up an easy rhythm. Will bearing down while Paul's hips thrust forward. Will babbling nonsense when Paul fisted Will with a twist of his wrist. Hands gliding from Paul's shoulders to his waist to his thighs, worshipful. Sweat mingling, bodies gliding together, panting into each other's mouths.

Will gasped when Paul hitched his hips up higher. Keening out a sound he'd never made before when Paul started circling his hips, his pelvis flush against Will's ass. The wet, slap of their skin faded into the background when Will's muscles contracted around Paul, spurting all over his own chest.

Paul nearly bent Will in two, knees pushed toward his chest while he pounded hard and deep, so close.

"Fuck," Paul hissed, slipping out of Will with less finesse than he usually did. He ripped off his condom, tossing it beside him. He gathered up the white mess on Will's chest, using it to ease his way as he stripped the base of his cock.

Will ran his hands up and down Paul's body, whispering how much he loved Paul between filthy praises.

"Love you, Paul. I love you so much. Fuck me so good. No one can make me come as hard as you can. Fuck, you're so sexy for me. Need you so much. Want your come so bad. Come on, baby. Come all over me. Mark me. Make sure everyone knows I'm yours."

Paul came with a loud groan, wrist tirelessly working as he hit Will with wave after wave.

"Damn," Paul collapsed next to Will's side. "I missed that so much."

"Mmm," Will moaned his agreement, fingers dragging through the mess all over his chest and neck.

Paul couldn't resist licking into Will's mouth after Will slurped up one come covered finger.

The two took a long time cleaning each other up, licking and laughing along the other's skin. Chasing each other's mouths and breathing the other in.

They got just as distracted in the shower. Will grinding shamelessly onto two of Paul's thick fingers. Paul thrusting between Will's thighs before they almost slipped to the floor. Finishing up with Will on his knees, bobbing his head up and down Paul's length, desperately jerking himself off.

By the time the two tumbled into bed again, they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Wresting orgasm after orgasm from the other until they were too sore to even twitch in excitement.

Between rounds, they talked. Whispering into each other's skin. Laughing at stories the other told. Reminiscing over their time together. Will leaning against Paul's chest, fingers entwined, comfortable in every way.

They didn't start yawning until the first purple tendrils of the morning sun glistened through the window.

"We stayed up all night," Will pointed out.

"Again," Paul smiled. "Better circumstances this time."

"The best," Will insisted, angling his head up to meet Paul's mouth in yet another gentle kiss.

"Mmm," Paul sighed. "I love you."

"I love you too," Will flipped over to snuggle into Paul's neck, ready to drift off to sleep. "And to think you were originally gonna leave me in Memphis without saying anything."

Paul, hand firm against the curve of Will's butt, gave it a light smack, smiling at the way Will laughed.

"Well, you were right, I must be an idiot," Paul admitted, eyes closed and face soft. "Only a moron would leave you behind."

"My moron," Will sighed, splayed across Paul's body, safe and comfortable where he belonged.

 **THE END (but not really because I'm posting a bonus chapter immediately after this)**

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A/N

Trigger warning: Will explains his encounters with Ben where Will drunkenly makes out with him as well as Ben stalking him and kissing him against his will. Also, Will explains his time with Sonny where he did not give Sonny consent but also did not push him away. Which Paul explains is problematic.


	7. Chapter 7

Bonus ideas I had that didn't fit in the story/ I didn't want to write out.

 **#1 Xander**

The way I see it Xander originally slept with Will only as a means to annoy Sonny. But, sleeping with Will ended up being hotter than Xander anticipated. So, Xander gained a little bit more respect for Will which meant he wouldn't completely throw him under the bus to hurt Sonny. But he'd still try.

So, I imagine Xander's been scheming ways to get the CEO position away from Brady and Sonny and apparently Chad. Which culminates in some big Titan party to announce the CEO and Xander not so innocently insists Will has to report on it. Originally, after Xander gets the position, he planned to have Sonny + others find him and Will in a compromising position. But Will brings Paul with him which puts a damper on Xander's plans. And, because no one's plans ever work out, Xander doesn't get the CEO job. I don't know who would, a big surprise long lost Kiriakis like Philip or someone.

Which somehow ends up with Xander, Sonny, and Brady commiserating together. Sonny says something annoying. Brady says something back. They're all bickering like children and somehow the topic gets on Will when Brady and Xander gang up on Sonny. Which results in Xander, in a much less dramatic but nonetheless satisfying reveal of knowing exactly why Sonny obsesses over Will.

Followed by Will walking into the room with Paul. Where Brady is laughing hysterically. Sonny looks seconds away from having a coronary and Xander shakes Paul's hand with a vague pronouncement about Paul being a lucky bastard. Kisses Will on the side of the mouth, slaps him on the ass, and waltzes out again.

Leading to Paul giving Will a judgmental look and Will responding with something like, "Picture him shirtless with his mouth preoccupied."

 **#2 Brian**

Brian gets taken off of Will's study due to an anonymous tip that Brian and Will were crossing the doctor/patient line. Kayla takes Brian aside and lets him walk away from the study himself so she doesn't have to make a report/reprimand him. And by anonymous I mean Paul. Paul reported it in an uncharacteristic bought of possessiveness/feeling spiteful. And because he's Paul, he immediately confessed to Will who made fun of him for feeling bad about it. Which leads to yet another roll in the hay.

Also, I imagine Sonny finding out about Will and Brian too. Maybe conveniently at the hospital. Perhaps Ari falls off her bike or twists her ankle at dance class. Will overreacts and goes straight to the hospital. Brian's on call and checks Ari over. Sonny shows up and is rather surprised to see Brian. And he's even more surprised when Will, freaking out over Ari, turns to Brian for comfort. All leading up to Kayla coming by to check on Ari and is exasperated to see Brian with Will. And she inadvertently blabs that Brian knows he can't be around Will if they used to sleep together.

Cue Sonny freaking out. Will not having time for Sonny's bullshit. Brian just trying to do his job and only having some residual feelings for Will. Kayla apologizing for not speaking to Brian in private. So, of course, Paul would show up then and make things worse/better.

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Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed or simply read. I appreciate all of you. I have a few ideas for potential stories. Hopefully, I get around to writing them.

Thanks again.


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